Would you....

Just wondering...how many pirates here would start over fresh on an "old school" shard if EA offered it. I would hope that if such a thing came to be it would be pre-Trammel (condense the population-force interaction). I noticed rumblings about a possibility of such a shard on stratics--I've been away a while and if this might happen I'd be all for it!!!

In my opinion what made UO great is not expansions or the latest and greatest in monsters/gear...it was the interaction between the players and what the player made out of this sandbox-like game (see The United Pirates). I think an old school shard would bring back alot of old timers and lessen the reliance on fancy gear. The old economy did not have insurance so gear was constantly produced and used up. The reduction of the landmass to just feluccia (maybe T2A--Im not here to argue details just the idea of such a shard) would force interaction-good and bad.

Some complain that rampant pking might becoma a concern--to me thats what made old UO exciting-you never knew if you were going to make it back to east brit bank with that 3k gold and a set of bone armor from Despise. Old pvp also appealed to me-fel in today's game is inhabited by pvpers geared out like gods who can take you out in a matter on milliseconds...to me the old style pvp was a bit slower paced.

Stratics Veteran

Arutha, I totally agree with you on one subject: Splitting the world into Trammel and Felucca was one of the biggest mistakes in UO history. On the other hand, while the Ultima Online before that split had a lot more community spirit, risk and challenge, it also had a lot of unsolved problems.

I honestly would never consider playing on a shard with the old ruleset. Just go to Felucca on Catskills and play there for a while. You quickly will notice that there is no fun in that. That's also the reason why I won't play on Siege Perilous.

It would take much more than just opening a shard with old ruleset, to bring back the spirit of the Early Days of UO. I wrote a comprehensive essay about exactly that topic, and what I think would be the best solution for UO:"Revolutionizing Ultima Online"
That's what I would support 100%.

Once you tapped the whole content of previous expansions, you will understand how they enhanced the game. There are lots of new features that I would not want to miss. Of course, some of the changes were not so good either, but I think the positive aspects are stronger. For example, the new Imbuing skill leveled the playing field in PvP a lot. Still, those are only technical improvements, and you are right that not many features of past expansions encouraged the community spirit; some of them even discouraged it.

---

During the past 3 years, I've been thinking a lot about what you are writing. Today I have come to the conclusion that wishing back the Early Days is a waste of time. If you really compare the pros and cons of early UO and today, you will realize that only a small number of players would play on a "Classic Shard". Just look at Siege Perilous and its handful of players.
What UO needs is not a revert, but a (r)evolution. The Trammel/Felucca problem can be solved, without losing all the great features of today's UO.

Before they could publish a "classic" shard, they would have to consider all of the bugs that went with the times and correct them (i.e. house looting, seeing invisible things, one hit kills, trade window bugs, etc) so that rather than a classic shard, we would get a new shard which vaguely resembles classic rules.

And while I found the old times exciting, I'm more of an explorer type with a bit of killer in me, so I wouldn't be interested in the old shard for as long as I've been involved with the deeper new content. In fact, I'd probably just make myself a thief and a killer, play until I get bored, then stop. That's about what I did the first time I quit UO, just got bored and stopped.

Still, if they happened to make this classic shard in Europe, I may be tempted to give it a shot...

Before they could publish a "classic" shard, they would have to consider all of the bugs that went with the times and correct them (i.e. house looting, seeing invisible things, one hit kills, trade window bugs, etc) so that rather than a classic shard, we would get a new shard which vaguely resembles classic rules.

And while I found the old times exciting, I'm more of an explorer type with a bit of killer in me, so I wouldn't be interested in the old shard for as long as I've been involved with the deeper new content. In fact, I'd probably just make myself a thief and a killer, play until I get bored, then stop. That's about what I did the first time I quit UO, just got bored and stopped.

Still, if they happened to make this classic shard in Europe, I may be tempted to give it a shot...

Click to expand...

house looting is a matter of someone not taking the proper precautions to keep their key safe or make sure no one stealthed into their house when they opened it. Not a bug. The trade window bugs have all been fixed, making a classic shard doesn't "unfix" that problem. The same can be said about a lot of bugs.

Stratics Veteran

Well, there were plenty of loopholes (not necessarily bugs) that would allow house looting and other types of player griefing, and it would always hit the not so experienced player. Which, as we all know, resulted in players quitting UO in large numbers. The winners were always those players who knew how to exploit loopholes and victimize unexperienced players. I wouldn't really call this a game world that many players would like to play in.

Aside from that, I'd miss a lot of the features today's UO is offering.

Well, there were plenty of loopholes (not necessarily bugs) that would allow house looting and other types of player griefing, and it would always hit the not so experienced player. Which, as we all know, resulted in players quitting UO in large numbers. The winners were always those players who knew how to exploit loopholes and victimize unexperienced players. I wouldn't really call this a game world that many players would like to play in.

Aside from that, I'd miss a lot of the features today's UO is offering.

"Unsatisfied", are you one of our crew?

Click to expand...

I'm not a member of any crew tbh I signed up to forums when a family member who still plays uo told me they were tossing around the idea of a classic shard so I put classic shard in the search field and I'm reading up and commenting on whatever I find in regards to it.

House looting bugs were fixed before they changed to aos style "access" lists etc. Hell you could lock down every single item by that stage. I'm not saying we have to go all the way back to house looting days where locked down containers could be looted. We just don't need access lists where you can't run onto someones steps even without being accessed.

Stratics Veteran

I have to agree with the Cap'n and Farsight. I was here on launch day and for the 7 years that followed. There are many things that I miss about the early days, but I find they are people, groups the newness not the early game mechanics. While I think they could have dealt with non-con PVP in a much better way they were dealing with something unknown. In hindsight I have a feeling they would have figured out some sort of functional flagging system. I think SWG (without all the other poor choices) handled this best. They did not restrict where you could PvP they let you flag yourself and put in ways to deal with abuse of the flagging system. It is certainly not perfect, but beter than completely separating the two distinct play styles. Over the years I have read more than once that while the splitting of the facets "fixed" the PK/non-con PvP problem, albeit a sledge hammer approach, it also allowed for double the housing spots and that was just as much a problem during those days as PKs and non-con PvP.

I too like all the enhancements we have received over the years and think it would be very hard to go back. Would I check out a classic shard, sure, but would I stay... most likely not. If I were to have one wish though, I would see the end of the item properties and see something like the system we had before. There was much more diversity in armor and weapons being used and less "math" to deal with. Although I understand that that is a positive aspect to the game for many and I'll admit that imbuing has helped to reach a happy medium on that front.

Stratics is the oldest continually running MMORPG Fansite on the Internet. Founded in 1997 Stratics has served the Ultima Online Community for 18 years. We strive to provide the most complete social experience for Ultima Online players.